|
Don't get me wrong. I feel like getting the hell out of Alabama, but I'm not going to. I'm not going to be intimidated out of the place I call home.
Me and my partner have been together here for 18 years. That's nearly half of my 39 years. My life is here in Alabama. Despite all the bullshit and the palpable homophobia, I still love it here.
My partner was once married and had a son in their marriage. Now *we* have a family. His son was 14 years old when we got together; now he has a family; it's my family also.
I'm not leaving. I did want to leave, but there are too many reasons (not the least economic) not to flee. I refuse to give in to the paranoid fear that we're going to be rounded up and sent to concentration camps or prisons. It isn't head-in-the-sandism, it's reality. These people aren't that bad. No matter what you may have heard or even what I believe in my darkest fears, that isn't going to happen.
They're just not going to accept "gay marriage". I can accept that. *We* can accept that. We have ironclad legal documents (powers of attorney, executor of estate, etc.) that can guarantee us rights even without the "civil union" stuff.
I've been through serious bullshit, including coming out when I was a teenager and having my dad pull out his gun and holding it up to my head and telling me "No son of mine is going to be a goddamned queer". After that all this other bullshit is easy, let me tell you. 59 million people voting because of "moral reasons" which equates to "no gay marriage" isn't going to make me leave the home I love. No way!
And we will not be the Democratic Party's scapegoat. No way.
The sky isn't falling.
There are many other issues that are easily more important to me than my gayness. I don't give a flying fuck if anyone "accepts" me or not; even less whether some right-wing assholes want to see me quickly go to hell or whatever.
I have fought (and been a part of) environmental issues here in N. Alabama. And we've won. That means a lot to me. That will always mean a lot to me.
I've contributed in substantial ways to civil rights issues that have nothing to do with my gayness. And they've been successful, or at least somewhat fruitful. Not to mention the fact that I've been very successful for many years at enriching the cultural landscape of this place -- and I hope to for many more years to come.
I will continue to do so. I will continue as I always have to contribute to the betterment of my fellow Alabamans and country. I'm a liberal, and proud, through and through. And this state I love, even though many of you may hate it is my battleground and my beloved home.
And I will stay in Alabama. This is my home. As horrible as it might seem to some of you blue-staters it's my home and I still love it. I'm not moving!!!
May you all have the courage to stay here and contribute! We need you and your contributions. Life isn't easy anywhere. At least a life worth living.
I'm not giving up and I hope all of you will consider doing the same!
Love and hope to you all from a simple gay man in Alabama.
|